Clark drives spike into his first TD

Published 4:00 am, Monday, October 13, 1997

"I wanted to but I'm afraid it would fade in comparison to Terrell Owens," the rookie tight end said, poking a little fun at the wide receiver's touchdown dance.

But when Clark did score, taking in a 10-yard pass from Steve Young in the first quarter, he did something he'd been waiting for a long time.

"I really wanted to get a spike," he said. "You can't do that in college."

So in the best NFL tradition, Clark spiked the ball and headed off the field.

Whoops. After monumental plays, players often run off the field hugging the ball - intending to keep it as a souvenir. A 49ers ball boy came to the rescue, running out on the field and taking the ball from the referee.

Clark had another reason to celebrate. Three plays before the touchdown he caught his first NFL pass, an 11-yard strike from Young. Clark was starting for Brent Jones, out with a hairline fracture of his right leg.

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Clark has seen considerable action as a 49er, but he's been used exclusively as a blocker. Until the Rams game, he never had any passes thrown his way.

"I had the label of being a blocking tight end the last couple years," he said. "It drives me up the wall. It drives me crazy. I've always been a receiving tight end."

Clark finished with the two catches for 21 yards.

"It was great," Clark said. "They were nice easy catches. It's nice to get that out of the way."

DOES NOT PLAY WELL WITH OTHERS: St. Louis quarterback Tony Banks, now the proud owner of 26 fumbles in 21 professional starts, did manage to show a neat right jab to the face of cornerback Rod Woodson midway through the fourth quarter, and made a fairly damning charge to explain it afterward.

"What were they up like, 30 points, and he's diving at my knees," Banks said of Woodson. "Come on . . . he's had a knee injury before. He ought to know better than that."

In other deportment news, defensive tackle Bill Johnson became enraged in the first quarter after a set-to with 49ers guard Ray Brown, enraged enough, in fact, that he came after him later in the quarter to press his point.

"He comes up to me and he says, "Coach, he spit right in my face,' " Rams coach Dick Vermeil said. "So now what do I say? I'm pissed. . . . That's a 15-yard penalty. But if someone spit in my face, I'd throw a punch, too."

Brown's version: "I had him on the ground, and he flipped me off, and started pushing and shoving. You have to react. You gotta take care of your neighborhood."

"I think the Rams showed this is still a rivalry," coach Steve Mariucci said. "Tensions were mounting as the game progressed."

Strong safety Tim McDonald said: "They're struggling right now. You can see the frustration. That's why all the scuffles. They lost their poise."

CHANGES ON LINE: A poke in the eye and an uproar in the stomach caused the 49ers to adjust the left side of their offensive line.

In the second quarter of Sunday's game left tackle Derrick Deese was inadvertently jabbed in his left eye. Also in the second quarter, Brown got an upset stomach. Both men tried to return to the game in the third quarter, but they eventually came out.

Deese was replaced by Frank Pollack. Erstwhile center Jesse Sapolu came in for Brown at left guard. Sapolu started at the position in 1987-88 and again in '94-95.

"It wrecked my day," Deese said, looking in the mirror at his half-closed left eye. "It made it double vision in the first half. After that it was blurred. I came back for a couple series, took a couple hits and it was blurred again." flying team, buzzed the stadium in the third quarter.

"Those planes scared the heck out of me," Mariucci said.

The fly-over was greeted with a thunderous ovation from the crowd.

"They rattled this town," linebacker Ken Norton said.

"That was really exciting."

FUN WITH NUMBERS: The 49ers' 15-game win streak over the Rams is tied for second on the all-time list with the Packers over the Cardinals (1937-46), and the Redskins over the Lions (1968-present).

The 49ers are 37-11 in their division since 1990, 77-26-1 since 1981, and their sweep of the Rams is their 26th (of 51) against a divisional rival in 17 years. They have been swept twice in that time, last year by Carolina and 1991 by Atlanta.

ONE LAST REVIEW: Toby Wright, one of the many Rams who has never beaten the 49ers, put it bluntly: "Of course it's ugly. It's terribly ugly. We don't like to say what we should have been. It's about what you see. We're at a standstill."

INJURY REPORT: The 49ers listed five players as injured in the Rams game. All are probable for next Sunday's game at Atlanta.

OF NOTE: Kicker Gary Anderson, who nailed three field goals and three point-afters for a total of 12 points, became the fourth player in NFL history to score more than 1,600 points. In his 16-year career, Anderson has now scored 1,610. . . . DE Chris Doleman has two sacks - marking the 29th time in his career that he's made two or more sacks. "It was a very productive day for us," Doleman said. . . . Owens scored twice - on passes of 5 and 17 yards. It was the first multi-touchdown day of his career.&lt;